Construction, maintenance, and other activities that occur on the roofs of buildings and other structures present safety concerns and difficulties for workers tasked with completing the activities. The pitch of the roof along with a variety of conditions on the roof can lead to tripping, slipping, and sliding hazards causing workers to fall on the roof surface or fall off of the roof altogether. Such falls can lead to serious injury and even death.
Many attempts have been made to provide apparatus that give workers better footing and/or platforms from which to work while on the roof. A common method includes nailing a board to the roof structure to provide a small lip which workers can use as a toehold while working above the board. Once work is complete the board must be removed and holes or other damage to the roof must be repaired or mitigated.
Other apparatus have been developed are aimed at preventing or arresting falls on the roof and/or falling from the roof to the ground. These often include anchors that are coupled to the roof or the support structure thereof using fasteners such as bolts, screws, or the like. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,730,407 to Ostrobrod describes a system comprised of a roof anchor that is fastened to the roof structure with a safety line winch coupled thereto. The safety line can be coupled to a worker and, in the case of a fall, a centrifugal break in the winch acts to arrest the worker's fall. Such systems work well to reduce the risk of serious injury to workers from falling, but their installation and use causes damage to the roof structure and/or cladding disposed thereon that may require additional efforts to repair.
Other attempts have been made to provide roof safety apparatus that do not damage the roof structure and cladding. These typically include a hooked or L-shaped component that is disposed over the peak of the roof or around an edge thereof. A safety-line is coupled between a worker and the hooked component, such that when the worker falls or pulls on the safety line, the hooked component acts as an anchor securing the opposite end of the safety line to the roof. U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2007/0272811 to Baake describes one such device. The Baake device includes a stabilizer member and an anchor member mounted perpendicularly to one another such that the device can be positioned over the peak of a roof with the anchor member on one side thereof and a safety line extending from the stabilizer on an opposite side of the peak. The device thus acts to anchor one end of the safety line to the peak of the roof without requiring fasteners to be installed into the roof structure. The design of the Baake device may work well when the safety line extends generally parallel to the stabilizer member but may be pulled away from the roof and/or the peak thereof when the safety line is pulled at an angle thereto. This could present considerable safety issues with operation of the device.
What is needed in the art is a safety-line anchor that is easily portable and installable on the roof without damaging the roof and that remains in an operable position without respect to the position of the user and/or safety line coupled thereto.